2013

Professor John Robertson, Vinson & Elkins Chair in Law, discusses the scientific and constitutional issues at play in the laws passed by ten states and now being considered in Texas to ban abortions after 20 weeks because of the scientifically controversial claim that fetuses are then capable of feeing pain.

Five students at the University of Texas School of Law have been selected to receive Baron & Budd Public Interest Summer Fellowships for the coming summer. The program will provide each fellow with a $4,250 stipend to work fulltime for at least ten weeks providing legal services to underrepresented individuals or communities.

The Texas Exes—the University of Texas at Austin’s alumni association—has given its highest honor, the Distinguished Alumnus Award, to three Law School graduates this year: Linda Addison, ’76; Wallace B. Jefferson, ’88; and Janiece Longoria, ’79.

Jordan Steiker, Judge Robert M. Parker Chair in Law and codirector of the Law School’s Capital Punishment Center, has written an analysis of the Supreme Court’s opinion in McQuiggin v. Perkins, which was published May 28, 2013.

The Law School’s Career Services Office (CSO) has announced second-year students Tim Emmons and Jorge Ramirez as recipients of the 2013 CSO Study Break Public Service Stipend. Another second-year student, who will be interning with a federal agency this summer, after passing final security clearance, also received a stipend.

On April 17, 2013, the Law School hosted the sixth annual Color of Justice program to inspire Austin-area minority high school students to pursue careers in law. The annual event was organized by the National Association of Women Judges, the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association, and the Law School’s William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law, with support from sponsoring law firms Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC, and Winstead. Audience members included approximately seventy-five students from Garza, Akins, and East Austin College Prep high schools.

Six graduating students at the University of Texas School of Law have been honored by the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law for their extraordinary commitment during law school to using the law to serve others. This annual award honors graduating students for work in the nonprofit, government, and legislative sectors, as well as participation in clinical courses, pro bono projects, and student groups. The award winners were recognized by Dean Ward Farnsworth at a reception at the Law School, and will each receive $500. In addition, BARBRI has generously provided the award winners with $500 discounts for bar review courses.

The 2013 Sunflower Ceremony—the Law School’s signature graduation event—will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2012 at 3:30 p.m. at the Frank Erwin Jr. Special Events Center on the University of Texas at Austin campus. Degree candidates, their families, and friends are invited to celebrate the accomplishments of the graduating class of 2013. At 2:30 p.m., prior to the Sunflower Ceremony, all degree candidates are invited to gather in the Erwin Center’s Lone Star Room.

Finding that a pre-1991 Texas death sentence had been imposed in violation of the Eighth Amendment, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a brief per curiam opinion on March 27, 2013, vacating the death sentence of Marlin Nelson. Nelson was represented in his appeal by University of Texas School of Law Professors Rob Owen and Jordan Steiker, assisted by the students of the Law School’s Capital Punishment Clinic.